Not unusual for a high end car. In fact when I had a MB I remember very clearly having to pay for scheduled maintenance that iirc certainly approached $600 per

Not unusual for a high end car. In fact when I had a MB I remember very clearly having to pay for scheduled maintenance that iirc certainly approached $600 per year to maintain the warranty. BMW as others have pointed out includes all maintenance. This is essentially an economic decision on the part of the manufacturer. They could of course increase the price of the vehicle and give you free maintenance but then they would sell fewer cars. Although in general BMW cars actually are priced comparably to MB they have decided that they can sell more cars by including "free maintenance" than lowering the price of the vehicle (at least in the market that I am in it may be priced differently elsewhere). http://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/service_and_parts/maintenance/src-4050 http://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/service_and_parts/maintenance/... Cars today are very complex. It is not unreasonable for the manufacturer who is extending a warranty of 4 or 5 years to require you to do certain things to maintain that warranty. Edit: And to require this to be done at authorized dealerships not the corner mechanic.